Posts Tagged ‘Silvia’

Formula Drift on the Streets of Long Beach is always an event not to be missed! The start of racing season (drifting season, actually) always feels like the first day of school. The drivers have new cars and new liveries, the race teams have new umbrella girls and updated outfits, and even photographers come through with new camera gear to capture the happenings at Formula Drift. This year, we had to contend with lots of clouds blocking out the California sun. We even had a little bit of rain fall at the event, but it certainly didn't dampen out spirits! Read more...

If you saw our previously published story on the R's Tuning Ben Sopra GTR from the Fast & Furious 6 movie, then you already know we were out at Buttonwillow Raceway this past weekend for the Global Time Attack Pro Am with Shift S3ctor. The event wasn't intended to be one of the larger GTA events; it was planned as a Pro/Amateur track day for the guys to shake down their cars at Buttonwillow. The types of cars at the event varied pretty wildly, from expensively modified AMG Benzes to homegrown builds, like Honda Civics and Mazda RX7s. Read more...

Even if they didn't attend the jam packed Formula Drift Finale at Irwindale Speedway, all drifting fans with an internet connection already know that Daigo Saito has been smashing the competition repeatedly all year, ascending the ranks of the Formula Drift Championship and ending his first year in Formula D in First Place as the Formula Drift Series Champion.

Here's a collection of some of our favorite images captured from the event! Read more...

This last trip to Las Vegas for Formula Drift was one hell of an eventful weekend. With a new course layout and drastically changing weather, the conditions took a toll on a lot of the teams. There were lots of tire scraps and car parts littered around the track when the day was done, not to mention the plethora of tire smoke from these high horsepower monsters. The sweltering heat and the freak 45 minute rain storm made it an interesting day at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With extremely fast entry speeds and high speed turns, the new course layout took out many cars from the running all weekend long. Read more...

The MotorMavens Crew is once again back at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Formula Drift After Dark. For those of you that couldn't make it, consider yourself lucky that you don't have to deal with the searing desert heat. Luckily it's not as hot as it was last year, but we're still baking in the sun so we can bring you imagery of whats current in Formula Drift. Read more...

Formula Drift Round 5 at Evergreen Speedway has to be one of my favorite events all year (albeit, I'm biased as a Seattle local)! Not only is it my home town, but this race track has one of the biggest bankings in the series - and just like Irwindale Speedway, there's not much room for error. Everyone in the Northwest drifting community has witnessed a lot of crashes at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe WA throughout the years, and with something like 56 drivers registered for this event, we are sure to get one hell of a show this year! Read more...

The second round of the 2012 Formula Drift Championship took place at Road Atlanta, and it couldn't have been more exciting! A brand new layout, controversial calls, quick-fixes, and outstanding battles are just a taste of the twists and turns that came about the weekend. Read more...

After Walker Wilkerson finished 18th overall in the 2011 Formula D season and barely missed the Rookie of the Year finish, Walker knew he had to step up his game for the 2012 season. Being in the Top 20 wasn't good enough for him! He told me about how much he has learned as a driver and mechanic to keep his car maintained for each event. Which led him into big changes for the 2012 season.
While talking to Walker about his future plans, he revealed that he realized he would have to ditch the SR20DET and go V8 to be even more competitive. I was shocked but I knew that this could help him out in the long run. However, I (and many others) will miss the sound of a stroked SR20 coming out of his exhaust. Read more...

On Tuesday, March 21st, 2012, Sonoma Drift attempted to break the world record for the most donuts at one time. The event started off with everyone warming up by drifting on Infineon Raceway's famous Turn 11, which is also used in NASCAR and IndyCar racing. Read more...

Seeing the MasterMind Odyvia for the first time at our MotorMavens Mass Appeal Show in Irwindale, CA was a mind-blowing experience. Hearing the car start up for the first time left my ears ringing for hours. However, rather than just telling tell you why I fell in love with this car, I thought I should tell you how this car came to life instead. Please fasten your seat belts, this ride is about to get CRAZY.
You're probably asking yourself, what is an Odyvia? In case you didn't know, it's when you combine Honda Odyssey headlights with a 1991 Nissan 240SX (S13 Silvia) body. Hence, the name ODYVIA...I find it rather fitting for the car - the name sounds like it was plucked from an epic poem like The Iliad.

The reason I felt so passionate about this particular car wasn't the one-off Spirit Rei Japan widebody kit, custom fabrication, custom interior, nor the Z06 LS7 motor swap. It was because it took incredible persistence and attention to detail to accomplish - this project was riddled with issues that would make an average mechanic lose his mind. Read more...

ReallyMeanSounds.com (or RMS) is a local motoring forum here in Northern Ireland. The site was set up by Andy Cooper many moons ago to showcase ICE installations but, as the popularity of the forum grew, it became one of most popular motoring forums in Ireland. I have been a member since late 2006 when I was losing heart with my rallying exploits and RMS was just the fix I needed.

The site and its members have been very good to me in the last few years. I have made many great friends and have had very special times going to car shows and meet-ups. Now, in its tenth year, Graham Curry, who is the RMS resident photographer and a good friend of mine, decided that the milestone should be marked with a Birthday show. So, after months of planning, we found ourselves at Junction 1 in Antrim - where all sorts of fun ensued! Read more...

Daniel Ressa has been building his Nissan S14 a bit longer then I've been building mine. He's a lot further and lower then I am. LOL! I just can't deny that his S14 is, without exception, one of my favorites.
He's always looking to get rare wheels and little parts that no one really has or wants to pay for. He is all about attention to little details on his car. If you know Danny, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Beyond the super slammed, tucking rear wheels, dragging side skirts, and destroying go-kart plastic barriers - this car actually gets driven hard. Form and function. Read more...

Okay... you've waited long enough! I've been sick the past few days so it's been rough, but I've finally managed to go through thousands of photos that we shot at Formula Drift's 2011 season opener on the Streets of Long Beach. I know everyone wants to see the photos, so without further delay, let's begin! Through the lenses of the MotorMavens sharpshooters, this is the Formula Drift Long Beach experience, Part Two! Read more...

The very first time I ever posted a video by Joshua Herron on the internet, I was still writing for Speedhunters, he had just finished editing his2009 Tokyo Auto Salon video (he didn’t even have an HD camera yet), and Josh’s name was pretty much unknown in the automotive scene. Man, have things changed – and in such a short amount of time!

Our own design guru Andy Sapp just sent me a link to Josh’s latest video, which showcases his coverage of the Ken Block Gymkhana Grid Invitational at Irwindale Speedway on December 4th. I’m pretty sure that pretty much everyone will agree with me when I say that this is the_best_video I’ve ever seen from the ‘Hobo’ from Las Vegas! Check the footage of Ken Block’s Ford Fiesta, Toshiki Yoshioka rocking the Driftspeed S15 Silvia, Alex Pfeiffer and the Battle Version SC300, Mike Essa in his M5-powered E92 BMW, and Tanner Foust getting sprayed at the podium once again! (more…)

Here are some more overdue photos from MotorMavens Mass Appeal show... As everyone knows, our first Mass Appeal was part of the Ken Block Gymkhana Grid Invitational event. Unfortunately for the MotorMavens Crew, we were extremely busy and understaffed during the event - we weren't able to spend a whole lot of time on the gymkhana side, because we were busy handling things on our side of the event - the Mass Appeal! We did notice that there were lots of people walking around Irwindale, dressed head-to-toe in DC/Ken Block clothing. We were pretty surprised; we know that Ken Block's YouTube videos get millions of views, but to see all the fans rocking Block gear from top-to-bottom was pretty crazy. Read more...

I’ve been traveling up and down to the city of Edinburgh in Scotland for a good few years now but, for some reason, the whole the time I’ve been shooting for MotorMavens, I never really thought to check out the car scene up there. In fact, I didn’t really know there was much of one!

It turns out I was very wrong and there’s actually a really strong scene there with a ton of fantastic modified cars. It just seems to be a little more hidden than down in England. Fortunately, a good friend of mine named Fraser Gordon was there to show me otherwise. He was coming to Edinburgh for the day from the city further west known as Glasgow, so he phoned me up and we organised to meet up with some of his friends to chill out, take some photos and see the sights of Edinburgh. It just happened to be in four sweet-looking and sounding drift cars.

It has always interested me to watch the background area of a competition, and all that is involved to bring it to life.Formula D has so many people working, moving, going… There is a full TV show being produced, professional race event taking place, thousands of fans… And yet, it seems like most things move at a different pace in Las Vegas. The cars are still in a rush, but everyone else, everyone behind the scenes…

Once I started editing to this song (Sundriped), I felt the pace change from some of the other videos I have done more recently, so I countered with a different choice of footage out of my stash.

The Formula Drift Finale at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, California was mind-blowing. I’ve never seen such aggressive driving, nail-biting tandem battles, or brutal wrecks in one weekend.

This being my first time to Formula D at Irwindale, I had no idea what to expect. I arrived Wednesday night with enough time to head to Long Beach for a few hours with Ross Fairfield and Casey Liston of OMGDRIFT and my good friend, Joe Ayala, to hang out with the likes of Dean Kearney, Eric O’Sullivan, and the rest of the Irish fellows at The Auld Dubliner. It was at this moment that I realized how quickly the 2010 Formula Drift season had flown by. It felt so familiar to be sippin’ on a Guinness surrounded by live music and friends in that Irish pub, though I hadn’t been there since Round 1 in April!

Thursday, Joe and I headed to the track to catch some practice driving, as well as to meet up with more friends. I’m so happy to have made so many new acquaintances in the industry this year. People can hate all they want on professional drifting in all it’s seriousness, but the amount of genuinely good people who congregate at these events is astonishing.

Thursday through Saturday proved to be a grueling test of physical strength as I walked the course day after day, under the hot sun of Southern California, my ears nearly bleeding from the up close action Toyota Speedway has to offer, and covered (more so than ever before) in tiny chunks of spent tire. I was even hit in the eye by a flying piece of tire that was hot enough to burn both my top and bottom eyelids somehow. Haha! That’ll teach me to film burnouts!

Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better conclusion to an incredible season of professional drifting, although I’m sad to see it end. All I know is that next year will be bigger and better and I can’t wait! Also, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the entire MotorMavens Crew for all of your support and the means to accomplish so many of my goals. I couldn’t have done it without your help. Thank you.

I can’t believe its over! The 2010 Formula Drift season went by so quickly! The Wednesday night before Formula Drift Irwindale, Justin Shreeve, myself, and some guys from OMGDRIFT went down to Long Beach to hang out at The Auld Dubliner. At the time, It seriously felt like we were just there for the Formula Drift event held back in April! So much has happened since then. It was so cool seeing almost everyone that I’ve met throughout the entire season come down for one final showdown. The hard fought battles and the high speed drifts at a wall that would eat your soul if it had the chance. Watching the Pro-Am drivers work for their potential spot to compete on the next level in the 2011 Formula Drift season. All of this made for one spectacular event.

MotorMavens literally came from throughout the entire country to cover this event. From the east coast to the west coast, which means lots of coverage. I titled this video “The Prelude” because to me, its just an introduction to all the coverage we will soon be seeing from our fellow photographers and videographers. Enjoy!

Formula Drift made its yearly stop in Sonoma, California last weekend. I’ve been looking forward to this event, simply because I live less than an hour away and I had a guaranteed bed to sleep in. However, the weekend was not without snags.

Upon my arrival, I found that I was not on the list for media, since KP Race and Victor Moore were unable to make it to Sonoma – this rendered my credentials were void. Therefore, I made the best of my bad luck and decided that if I couldn’t get the really close action shots, I would take a few steps back and shoot a different perspective. The next morning, I drove down to Borrowed Lenses in San Carlos and rented a tilt-shift lens. Over the past few months, my interest in these lenses has grown quite a bit and when I saw Mister Geoff Pitts from Thunder Drift taking photos with one at Formula D Las Vegas, I knew I had to try it. Fate truly couldn’t have presented me with a finer opportunity. Enjoy!

This weekend, the members of the MotorMavens Crew were straight up hustlin. (When are we not?) As a collective, we spread out to cover FIVE events in different geographic parts of the world. In Southern Cali, the first event we hit up was the IDRC Finale at California Speedway in Fontana, CA. We knew this weekend was going to be hot... real hot. At California Speedway, deep in the Inland Empire, the temperatures reached 107 degrees, but on the track it felt even hotter, with heat bouncing up off the tarmac, penetrating through sunblock and clothing to sizzle the skin of event goers. To be honest, hardly anyone from the MotorMavens collective was super excited to bake in the sun on Labor Day weekend. We wanted to chill out in the air conditioned comfort of our homes, or head to the beach to hang out and enjoy all the beautiful scenery of Southern Cali's last days of summer.

However, a couple weeks ago, we received a call from DSPORT Magazine's Marketing Director, Tobin Honda, asking for MotorMavens help in promoting the event, and we made a commitment. In the automotive aftermarket industry, there are often times when people make a lot of promises, but they don't have much follow through... Motor Mavens tries not to be like that. Since we're always out at events speaking to car owners and such, we made a concerted effort to promote the car show and the drag event, and we were extremely happy to see many of our good friends in attendance, showing their support! Read more...

Things have been pretty hectic lately for the MotorMavens crew and myself. With work responsibilities as well as travelling around shooting, I haven't had much time to sit down and write this properly. What's crazy is it's only been a little over a week since Wembley and I've already been to Silverstone for the final round of JDM Allstars!

I don't like to do things by halves and I couldn't leave you readers hanging on just one feature. So, while I work on the photos from Silverstone, here are the highlights of what happened on day two of JDM Allstars at Wembley Stadium. Read more...

For the third year in a row JDM Allstars returned once again to the city of London in what can only be described as the landmark event of the series - Wembley Stadium. For reasons I'm not quite sure about, this years round was dubbed "THE BIG SMOKE." But over the weekend it became a very fitting title. In fact as I sit here writing this I'm still coughing and finding the remains of many deceased Federal, Nexen, Kuhmo, Neuton, and whatever other tyre brand you can think of, in my ears and nose.

Wembley is THE event to go to in theJDM Allstars calendar. Drifters from all over Europe and even outside of Europe flock to Wembley to step up to the plate and show their talents in the competition. So bright and early (way too early) Saturday morning, I headed down into London to check out what was going on.

Usually I like to hang around the pits for a while to chat with drivers and friends, but with briefings to attend to and with the large amount of drivers competing, practice had to get underway pretty sharpish and I didn't want to miss out on any of the action. So I made a move out to the track and started shooting. So here are some photos from practice and qualifying! Read more...